THE TICKER.

BROKERAGE: Flossmoor couple wins in arbitration

WASHINGTON — An Illinois couple who accused Salomon Smith Barney of giving them inept tax advice on stock option exercises has won $230,000 in arbitration.

Daniel R. and Vicki Taylor of Flossmoor claimed their broker was unaware of the tax consequences of exercising options on Cisco Systems Inc. stock.

The stock was worth $1.7 million in June 2000 when they exercised the options Daniel Taylor received working at Cisco. When Cisco's value began to plummet in 2001, the Taylors were forced to sell all the shares and deposit $100,000 in cash to meet margin calls.

They said they were also hit with an unanticipated tax bill that surprised even their broker. They said the broker never mentioned that they were already on the hook for significant taxes as soon as they exercised the options, information that would have led them to make different decisions.